Of the prisoners in the Governmental District of Liegnitz, those in the stronghold of Glogau were the most severely attacked. In the garrison, too, the number of small-pox patients was quite large. The first prisoners arrived on September 1, and the first cases of small-pox among them appeared on September 16; the maximum number of prisoners there was 13,621, and of these 1,198 contracted the disease. The first case among the civil inhabitants was reported on October 7; in December the disease was conveyed to the surrounding villages, especially by tradespeople who had visited the markets in Glogau. The adjacent districts suffered relatively little in the year 1871. In the governmental district of Liegnitz, with the exception of Glogau, where there were 31·2 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants, only Görlitz and Liegnitz had high figures in the year 1871. In the city of Görlitz a prisoner was committed to the lazaret in November 1870, and in December, when a transport of prisoners passed through the city, one of them was left behind there; the epidemic among the civil inhabitants began in January 1871. Again in the year 1872 small-pox did not become very widespread except in the districts of Liegnitz, Jauer, Hirschberg, and Görlitz; Liegnitz, with a mortality of 35·2 per 10,000 inhabitants, had the highest figures.
In the Governmental District of Breslau cases of small-pox were frequently reported. In the city of Breslau the first case among the prisoners occurred on November 11, the second on January 27, the third and fourth in April and May, 1871; the first cases in the garrison likewise occurred in November; from January on, the number of cases grew steadily larger. The number of reported cases in the city was:[[269]]
| January | 33 |
| February | 68 |
| March | 90 |
| April | 68 |
| May | 134 |
| June | 235 |
| July | 287 |
| August | 271 |
| September | 361 |
| October | 699 |
| November | 1,026 |
| December | 1,229 |
| January | 1,311 |
| February | 790 |
| March | 462 |
| April | 242 |
The epidemic was very severe. Whereas during the previous epidemics (1856–7, 1863–4, and 1868–9) only about seven per cent of the patients treated in the hospital died, in 1871–2 no less than 322 out of 2,416 patients (13·4 per cent) taken there were carried away by the disease. Of the 322 patients, moreover, 182 had hemorrhagic small-pox, and of these 166 died.
The immediate vicinity of Breslau was very severely attacked; in the districts lying to the south of the Oder small-pox raged extensively in the year 1871, whereas those districts on the north side of the river did not suffer very severely until the year 1872. This may be explained by the fact that the extensive industrial activity of the districts south-west of the Oder rendered considerable intercourse with Breslau necessary. The following table indicates the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants in the districts north-east of the Oder:
| 1871. | 1872. | |
|---|---|---|
| Namslau | 4·0 | 48·5 |
| Wartenberg | 14·0 | 55·4 |
| Oels | 22·3 | 71·0 |
| Trebnitz | 8·6 | 27·8 |
| Militsch | 10·0 | 37·2 |
| Gurau | 15·5 | 20·2 |
| Steinau | 12·1 | 34·2 |
| Wohlau | 41·1 | 38·4 |
and in the districts south-west of the Oder:
| 1871. | 1872. | |
|---|---|---|
| Neumarkt | 13·5 | 61·5 |
| Breslau (city) | 35·7 | 27·3 |
| Breslau (district) | 57·3 | 74·9 |
| Ohlau | 12·2 | 23·3 |
| Brieg | 5·2 | 17·2 |
| Strehlau | 30·3 | 33·8 |
| Nimptsch | 23·5 | 37·4 |
| Münsterberg | 53·0 | 29·0 |
| Frankenstein | 34·3 | 14·3 |
| Reichenbach | 32·0 | 19·8 |
| Schweidnitz | 26·3 | 13·4 |
| Striegau | 16·9 | 48·2 |
| Waldenburg | 57·7 | 36·2 |
| Glatz | 39·1 | 13·4 |
| Neurode | 20·2 | 35·6 |
| Habelschwerdt | 8·2 | 7·3 |
In Upper Silesia the stronghold of Neisse had a maximum number of 12,801 prisoners, among whom there were 385 cases of small-pox and 117 deaths; in the garrison, which averaged 4,452 men, there were 39 cases and 1 death. The first cases among the prisoners were reported on September 25, and in the garrison in November. The civil inhabitants suffered very little in the year 1871, and the number of deaths among them did not begin to grow large until 1872. Only in the district of Neisse and in the neighbouring district of Grottkau was the number of deaths larger in 1871 than in 1872; in all the other districts there were more deaths in 1872. The districts which were most severely attacked in the year 1872 were—Kreuzburg (78·2 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants), Posenberg (58·6), Gross-Strelitz (60·0), Beuthen (56·5), and Kosel (62·4).
In the Province of Pomerania the city of Stettin came to be a general rendezvous for prisoners of war; the maximum number of them, owing to the continual arrival of new transports, was no less than 21,000. The first transport arrived on August 12, and the first small-pox patient among them was committed to the hospital on August 28. Of the prisoners, 1,303 contracted the disease and 194 succumbed to it. The climax of the epidemic came in January, when there were 462 cases reported. The first cases in the garrison, which averaged 7,000 men, occurred in October, the first man to contract the disease being a sick-attendant, and the second an artilleryman; after that, all the branches of service were attacked. The epidemic in the garrison, however, was confined to 74 men, only 5 of whom died. In December the disease spread to the civil population; the number of cases (including the garrison) was 422 (55·5 per 10,000) in the year 1871, and 113 (14·8 per 10,000) in the following year. In the Governmental District of Stettin only the communities surrounding the city of Stettin had high small-pox figures in the year 1871, and these communities were also more severely attacked in the year 1872. The following table indicates the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants in the communities mentioned: